In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, xenia is an important theme that gives insights into the characters and the Achaean culture. Xenia is the concept of hospitality toward foreigners, and it comprises both the responsibilities of being a good guest and a good host. The responsibilities of the host are to give food, clothing, and a bath to a foreigner and even a gift of some sort. The guest is expected to be courteous and not to take advantage of the host and overstay or expect too much. Xenia is usually done to show your wealth, or out of fear that you may be punished by Zeus.
Without such hospitality, strangers could be captured or even killed for entering a foreign land. The Greek guest-friendship xenia may have been formed from this. Xenia is the Greek relationship between two people from different regions. This allowed for the members of the relationship to safely travel into the other member’s territory and receive a place to stay and something to eat. Another possible explanation for the amount of hospitality shown is that the Greeks believed the gods wanted them to
He also used his guile on Calypso. After a long stay in Calypso’s “Warm Caves” she was not willing to allow Odysseus to return home. So after Zeus left her without a choice, She came up with the idea of tricking him into insulting her, so that she could make him stay. So she asked him, “How could she be more interesting, more beautiful, than me a goddess?”(V) Odysseus, being the clever man that he is answered her, “My lady Goddess, there is no cause for anger. /My quiet Penelope - whom I know so well, would seem a shade before your majesty.”(V) Odysseus knew that he couldn’t lie to Calypso because she was a goddess, so he told her what she wanted to hear; That she was indeed prettier than Penelope, but notice there was a second issue in her question and he neglected to address it.
The characters that disobey pillars in this play are Oedipus, Laos, Jocasta, the party goer, and the shepherd. This indicates that people at all levels within society were immoral, even royalty. Therefore it is evident that Sophocles was questioning the morality of society as a whole, at all levels. Laos, Jocasta, and Oedipus all disobey the pillar of family. They do so when they attempt to kill baby Oedipus out of fear of their prophecy.
For example, Aeolus is easily bribed to wreck havoc against Aeneas’ fleet by Juno’s promising him an exquisite nymph for a wife. Juno has obviously favoured him in the past. He concedes that he owes her for everything she has done for him. However, like a pair of bickering children, the territorial sea god Neptune chastises his sister Juno and calms his sea. Although Venus’ protection of her son in Book one is praiseworthy, she is as manipulative of humans as Juno is.
When you can admit your own short comings you open yourself to accept someone else’s knowledge on the subject you are unfamiliar with. If Meno had not admitted to this, he would have never became wiser on the subject and assume his thoughts on virtue were to correct ones. This is the lesson that would be a benefit to Anytus and Meletus. By being open to new thoughts and having an acceptance of not being all knowing would in turn benefit all of Athens, for they respect Anytus’s thoughts. Anytus shows his ignorance and unwillingness to accept Socrates’s teachings when Anytus tells Socrates that he has never even spoken to a Sophist or ever meeting one.
This shows that Odyseus is intelligent because knowing that he will end up hurting the Cyclops, he does not want the Cyclops, Posidons son, to call for his father or other Cyclops's. Therefore due to Odyseus’s quick thinking he told Polythemus that is name is Nohbdy. So when Odyseus hurts or injures him Polythemus will yell Nohbdy hurt me, sounding like Nobody has killed me. This is proven when Odyseus says, “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me.” This is found in The Odyssey Page 12 lines 360 to 361. Another quote that proves this part is when the Cyclops yells, “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me.
In contrast, Roman gods and goddesses were not gender specific so their individual characteristics were not central to the myths. The mythology itself is comparable in both Grecian and Roman cultures. The afterlife was regarded differently in each mythologies. Greeks found it was more important to live their physical life to their full extent rather than the eventuality of
He also is loyal when he goes and rescues them from Circe. He could have not buried Elpinor and he did not have to rescue his crew from Circe. Another person that show loyalty is Penelope. She could have just picked one of the suitors but she believed Odysseus was alive and she was going to wait for him. The sad part about this is that Odysseus was not loyal to Penelope.
She states, “She had a fine person, many brilliant attainments; but her mind was poor, her heart barren by nature” (Brontë 1.239). She describes Miss Ingram as beautiful but a shallow person with no depth. Along with Jane, Mr. Rochester seems to see this and her true aspiration of only marrying him for his money. On the other hand, Jane’s wittiness and sharp responses to Mr. Rochester confusing comments enraptures Mr. Rochester. Mrs. Reed and her children had always treated Jane with disrespect; but when Mrs. Reed is dying Jane forgets her harsh treatment and stays with her until she died.